Researchers recommend routine HIV testing for patients in Indian hospitals

Indian researchers at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, have recommended a policy of routine screening for HIV in all Indian hospitals.

“Given the high absolute number of HIV infections in India and in particular the rise of new infection and cases of transmission reported across special subgroups, we may need to revisit our screening policies,” write Ranjana Minz and colleagues from the institute’s department of immunopathology, in a study published online on 7 October in the International Journal of STD and AIDS.1

Currently, the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) in India does not recommend routine HIV screening of all patients at healthcare centres. The organisation’s …